Because I am deaf I cannot follow anyone who wears a mask when speaking. In my experience they always just pull it down when speaking so really does seem to suggest that maybe is not that effective for 'ordinary' use but would still be effective for more 'clinical' applications? I have had 5 Covid jabs now and no ill effects after any of them (just a bit tired after the second). Everyone seems to have different experiences with the pandemic. Personally I have not (knowingly) had it nor has my mother in her late 80's. We know of no-one who has been hospitalised or died from the virus. When friends and family have had it it has always been mild.One member of a family may get it and the rest don't. An uncle recently undergoing chemotherapy had a urinary infection which meant a hospital stay and was surprised when he tested positive for Covid as he had no idea! Another relative who has had a kidney transplant has had it twice but no need for hospital. My daughter is a nurse and administers the vaccine only caught it from her husband who was in a prison (not as an inmate I hasten to add!). She had to take a week off and was feeling so well she spent it in the garden! My son has a frontline job and also never got it. I expect we have just been incredibly lucky over the last nearly 4 years and just hope it continues,but it does show how different people have widely different experiences of the whole pandemic.
“Every day is ordinary, until it isn't.” - Bernard Cornwell-Death of Kings
My wife was in hospital for 11 days when she broke her leg and none of the staff, patients or visitors wore masks. On follow up appointments I've seen a few patients wearing masks but nobody else.
My guess would be that the clinical evidence for their effectiveness just isn't there.
I know I have odd views, but to me it's dependent on the situation. I would have thought that in the situation of clinical staff looking after people with compromised immune systems (where an infection of anything could cause serious grief) that they would wear masks (given that it protects others rather than the wearer).
I have no wish to offend, but I am sure I will. COVID was, and still is a dangerous disease. Never mind it effects on the people who get it, it brings hospitals to a stand still, leading to ever increasing waiting lists. People are also ignoring long COVID which is a huge and growing problem, and can occur however mild the original disease was.
How can you lie there and think of England When you don't even know who's in the team
I got my COVID vaccination yesterday, clinic at one of the GP surgeries, and no-one there was wearing masks (neither staff not patients). I had one with me in case it was required, but to be honest I would have felt a bit silly wearing it when no-one else was.
Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
I would have felt a bit silly wearing it when no-one else was.
I think this is a real problem for us. I have had to train myself not to mind over the past few years. We have to be ok being the "odd one out" if we want or need to wear a mask. I am amazed how affected by 'herd behaviour' I was. I could feel the physical discomfort inside - being the "only one" in a shop wearing a mask. But it's worn off now. If in small rooms, I ask for the door to be left open for ventilation, I open windows. As ever, there are simple actions that can make great differences to our (my) health and I want to be rigorous in defence of my own health.
You're right of course @Fire . Most of us don't have that strength of mind to stand out from the crowd. Must try harder!
I should say I'm quite happy with mask-wearing if I'm asked to, either by the place I'm visiting or by a vulnerable person, but I'm guessing no-one there felt that way or they'd have been wearing masks themselves. I'm not especially vulnerable myself, so it's largely about protecting others in case I'm carrying something asymptomatically. I stay in if I'm coughing, sniffling or sneezing (other than the pollen-induced kind).
Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
@Fire I have no issue whatever with people who wish to wear masks. They are a comparatively small minority but I don't see them as 'odd' in any way. I always hated wearing a mask and, irrespective of what the experts may have claimed, it most certainly did affect my breathing negatively.
The bus I took into town a couple of weeks ago was really busy, so I put a mask on for the journey. I was the only one that did. Its very reassuring that some families have only been affected mildly by Covid, otherwise we’d all be too scared to go out. However, my brother spent a very scary couple of weeks in intensive care with Covid, and was very lucky to survive without long term complications. My sister lost her mother in law. A local nursing home lost more than half its residents. I think we have short memories, Covid caused huge trauma and loss during the first wave, but the facts remain that hospitals struggled to cope with the flood of patients needing care, and many medical and care staff sacrificed their own lives in an attempt to help. Wearing a mask seems a tiny contribution to stop it happening again. For most people, it is a minor inconvenience and a temporary discomfort. Even if not proven to stop every transmission, I’d call it a case of every little helps.
My mother has nigh on been in total isolation for last four years, partly covid , partly age and partly since my father died. She has averted getting covid. Less than three months ago she entered a Care Home and caught Covid. However, she has survived, bless her, and , she is 102 years old. Her doctor, many years ago, told her that she " was as strong as a butchers dog"....seems she still is🙂
Perhaps we should start referring to this virus as Covid 23 ( soon to be 24 ). Without frightening people to death, it may act as a reminder that we still have a relatively new virus on the prowl and everyone needs to be as careful as possible. Visiting my dental surgery a couple of months ago, I too found myself the only person wearing a mask in the reception area.
Posts
In my experience they always just pull it down when speaking so really does seem to suggest that maybe is not that effective for 'ordinary' use but would still be effective for more 'clinical' applications?
I have had 5 Covid jabs now and no ill effects after any of them (just a bit tired after the second).
Everyone seems to have different experiences with the pandemic.
Personally I have not (knowingly) had it nor has my mother in her late 80's.
We know of no-one who has been hospitalised or died from the virus.
When friends and family have had it it has always been mild.One member of a family may get it and the rest don't.
An uncle recently undergoing chemotherapy had a urinary infection which meant a hospital stay and was surprised when he tested positive for Covid as he had no idea!
Another relative who has had a kidney transplant has had it twice but no need for hospital.
My daughter is a nurse and administers the vaccine only caught it from her husband who was in a prison (not as an inmate I hasten to add!).
She had to take a week off and was feeling so well she spent it in the garden!
My son has a frontline job and also never got it.
I expect we have just been incredibly lucky over the last nearly 4 years and just hope it continues,but it does show how different people have widely different experiences of the whole pandemic.
I have no wish to offend, but I am sure I will. COVID was, and still is a dangerous disease. Never mind it effects on the people who get it, it brings hospitals to a stand still, leading to ever increasing waiting lists.
People are also ignoring long COVID which is a huge and growing problem, and can occur however mild the original disease was.
When you don't even know who's in the team
S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
Its very reassuring that some families have only been affected mildly by Covid, otherwise we’d all be too scared to go out. However, my brother spent a very scary couple of weeks in intensive care with Covid, and was very lucky to survive without long term complications. My sister lost her mother in law. A local nursing home lost more than half its residents.
I think we have short memories, Covid caused huge trauma and loss during the first wave, but the facts remain that hospitals struggled to cope with the flood of patients needing care, and many medical and care staff sacrificed their own lives in an attempt to help.
Wearing a mask seems a tiny contribution to stop it happening again. For most people, it is a minor inconvenience and a temporary discomfort. Even if not proven to stop every transmission, I’d call it a case of every little helps.
Her doctor, many years ago, told her that she " was as strong as a butchers dog"....seems she still is🙂
Visiting my dental surgery a couple of months ago, I too found myself the only person wearing a mask in the reception area.